~*~Chapter 21~*~

Liz sits down at the table and sighs. She had barely slept the previous night, she had been so shaken up from her nightmare. Sergei looks at her with concern from across the table as Helena comes into the room.

“Good morning, darlings! Elisha, you look terrible. Are you sick?” she asks, her voice sounding almost hopeful.

“No, I just didn’t sleep well,” Liz mumbles, looking down at the table as one of the servants places her breakfast in front of her. She picks at it, not hungry, but knowing that if she doesn’t eat, Helena may punish her by withholding future meals. Helena and Sergei talk about Cassidine “business” through most of breakfast, leaving Liz alone. Once they’re done eating, Helena turns to her and smiles.

“Maybe some fresh air would do you good. Would you like to go into the garden again this afternoon?”

Liz tries not to show any excitement. “Sure, okay.” In reality, she’s jumping inside, happy to get out again, even if it is just form one prison to another. At least the garden is outside and secluded. She hates that Helena has already gained such power over her, knowing that it is only going to get worse. Soon, she’ll probably have her jumping through hoops just to be allowed a few minutes in that garden.

“Well then, after lunch, you may go out there. Until then, try to get some sleep. You look like death warmed over.” She chuckles and leaves the room.

“Come on, I’ll take you back,” Sergei says, holding out his hand. Liz just glares at him and walks away, knowing that he’s following anyway. After all, someone has to lock her in when she gets there!

Once inside her room, she throws herself down on the bed and cries. Every day there is the same: breakfast, sit in her bedroom, lunch, sit in her bedroom or go to the garden, dinner, bedroom, then Sergei’s nightly visit. It’s only been a few days, and already it felt like an eternity since she was last in Port Charles. She lay there on the bed, thinking about her loved ones back home. Are they still looking for her? Is Lucky still alive? Do they all think she’s dead?

“Stop thinking like that, Liz,” she mutters. “They’ll find you, just give it time. Sooner or later someone will make the connection between this and what happened to Laura. They may think Helena’s dead, but they’ll check the island anyway, just in case, and then you’ll be out of here and back with Lucky. Just hang on....”

Finally, she feels sleep claiming her and surrenders, hoping that her dreams will be good ones.

~*~

Slightly refreshed after sleeping all morning, Liz joins Helena and Sergei in the dining room, trying to be somewhat cheerful in the hopes that Helena will let her stay outside longer that afternoon. After lunch, one of the guards walks her out to the garden and leaves her alone. She sighs and sits on one of the benches, looking out at the blue water, then closes her eyes and lets the breeze wash over her, breathing in the crisp air.

Sergei stands a few feet away and watches as she sits there. He goes up to the nearest guard and taps him on the shoulder. “I can watch her for a while. Why don’t you go take a break?”

The guard smiles and nods, walking away. Finally, they are alone. Sergei approaches the bench, trying to be quiet. “Elisha, may I join you?”

She turns around and frowns at him. Why can’t he leave her alone? As much as she wants to tell him off, she can’t take the chance that he’ll go running to Helena, so she sighs in resignation and nods. “Yeah, whatever.”

He sits on the bench next to her and she immediately stands, walking closer to the water. “Elisha, I know you hate me right now, and I don’t blame you. Just because I’m doing what my grandmother orders doesn’t mean I agree with her. You have to understand, I owe her my life. She could have killed me when I was born, but she spared me and had me raised here.”

“That doesn’t excuse what you’re doing. You can say you have no choice, but you do. You always have a choice,” Liz says bitterly, still looking out at the water.

Sergei sighs and looks down at his hands. He knew this was going to be difficult, that she was stubborn. It’s going to take a lot more than a few flimsy excuses to get her to stop hating him. “I know I was raised as a Cassidine, but don’t forget that I’m really a Spencer. Doesn’t that count for anything with you?”

She spins around and glares at him. “Don’t you ever compare yourself to them! You’re nothing like them! The Spencers are kind and caring and wonderful people. You’re just....you’re just like Helena!”

He winces and looks away, hurt. For the first time, she sees a vulnerability in him and feels herself soften slightly. He looks back and meets her eyes. “Will you tell me about them?” he asks softly, his voice cracking.

~*~Chapter 22~*~

Emily stands on her front porch and takes a deep breath, trying to figure out how to tell Nikolas the news. She smiles and opens the door, walking inside. “Hi honey, I’m home!”

Nikolas comes down the stairs, chuckling. “I missed you. How was the checkup?” he asks, taking her in his arms and kissing her.

“Good. Um, do you know if that box of Michael’s stuff is still up in the attic from when Jason and Carly lived here?”

He looks at her strangely and shrugs. “I don’t know, why do you want it? It’s just a bunch of baby...stuff...” he trails off and looks at her questioningly as a huge grin breaks out over her face. “Em, what are you saying?”

She giggles and hugs him again. “I’m pregnant, Nikolas! We’re having a baby!”

For a moment, he can’t move, then finally the shock wears off and he grabs her and spins her around excitedly. “A baby? I’m going to be a father?” He puts her down and leans against the couch behind him. “Oh God, I’m going to be a father.”

She laughs and kisses him. “Nikolas, you’re going to be a wonderful father, so don’t worry about it! I’m the one who should be worried, I grew up with Monica and Alan as parents!”

He smiles and shakes his head. “But before then you were raised by your real mother, and from what you’ve told me, she was wonderful, so I don’t think you have anything to worry about either.”

“You’re right. Wow, a baby...who do we tell first?”

“To be honest, I don’t know if I’m up to dealing with the Quartermaines right now. Plus, my family could probably use the good news. Why don’t we call my parents and see if they want to meet us for dinner?”

“What about Lucky?” she asks sadly.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’ll cheer him up to know he’s going to have a niece or nephew to spoil.”

“Or it might just remind him of the baby he could have had with Liz....” Emily says, sitting down in a chair. “Talk about bad timing, huh?”

Nikolas kneels down in front of her and takes her hand. “Hey, don’t say that. I know things are bad right now with Liz gone, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop living. We’re having a baby, and that’s the best news in the world! Come on, let’s call my parents.”

She gives him a half-smile and nods. “Okay, go ahead. I want to go change clothes.” She gets up and hugs him, then hurries upstairs. Nikolas grabs the phone and sits down. He tries his parents’ house first, but there’s no answer, so he tires Lucky’s next.

~*~

“He really is a chip off the old block, isn’t he?” Luke asks sarcastically, throwing the empty liquor bottles in the garbage can. Laura smiles sadly and looks over at the chair where Lucky is passed out.

“He’s taking this so hard. I don’t know what to do for him to make it better. I’m his mother, I’m supposed to be able to take away his pain!”

Luke puts his arm around her and kisses her on the forehead. “Sorry, babe, but I don’t think this is the kind of pain that can be taken away by anyone other than Liz.”

She looks at him and sighs. “You don’t think we’re going to find her, do you?”

“I don’t know. Something tells me we’re just going to have to wait until she finds us.”

“Well, I talked to Nikolas earlier and he said he went to visit Stefan in jail, to make sure he wasn’t behind this. He seemed pretty convinced that he wasn’t. That was our last chance, the last person that could have done this. You don’t think Mac was right before, that she ran away?”

He shakes his head quickly. “No, not a chance. I’ve never seen two people happier than them. Why would she run away from that? After everything they went through to be together?”

“You’re right,” Laura says, throwing the last bottle away. “Well, at least this place is clean again. Should we try to bring him into the bedroom?”

“Nah, just leave him there, let him sleep it off,” Luke says. The phone rings, causing them both to jump. Laura’s closer to it, so she answers.

“Hello?”

“Hey Mom, how’s Lucky?”

“Nikolas, I wasn’t expecting you to call again! He’s not too good. We found him passed out, surrounded by empty liquor bottles.”

“Wonder where he got that from?” Nikolas asks sarcastically. “Well, I was calling to see if you guys wanted to join us for dinner, but I can understand if you need to stay with Lucky.”

“Thanks, I really don’t think he should be alone right now.”

“Then how about we come over there? We’ve got some good news to tell you.”

She smiles. “Good news? We could definitely use some of that for a change. Okay, we’ll be here.”

“See you soon. Good bye!”

“Bye, honey.” Laura hangs up and looks at Luke. “He says they have good news for us.”

He looks back at his son and sighs. “Lord knows we could use some of that right now!”

A half hour later, the doorbell rings. Laura answers it and hugs Nikolas and Emily as they come inside. They all come into the living room where Lucky is still passed out. “Wow, he looks terrible,” Nikolas says, shaking his head.

“If memory serves, he’ll feel even worse when he wakes up,” Luke adds with a laugh. “Okay, out with it. What’s this news?”

Nikolas chuckles at his fathers impatience, then looks at Emily. “Do you want to tell them, or do you want me to?”

She smiles. “They’re your parents, why don’t you do it?”

Nikolas turns back to his parents and grins. “Emily’s pregnant. We’re having a baby!”

Laura shrieks and hugs him, then Emily, while Luke stands back and shakes his head. “Don’t you two know I’m not old enough to be a grandfather? What are you doing to me here?” He laughs and goes over to hug Nikolas, then kisses Emily on the cheek. “Congratulations. I guess that means there’s going to be another Spencer around to wreak havoc on Port Chuckles!” He looks at Laura and grins. “We’ll take over this city, yet, won’t we babe?”

At the other end of the room, a tear rolls down Lucky’s cheek. He had been awake ever since his parents showed up, but chose to let them believe he was asleep in order to avoid talking to them. Hearing his brother’s news is tearing him apart inside. Sure, he’s happy for him, but at the same time, it only reminds him of the child he might have had with Elizabeth, that he may never have now that she’s gone.

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